I’m currently trying to read;
- The Collapse of Globalism. By John Ralston Saul.
- Barbarossa: the Russian German Conflict, by Alan Clark.
- Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre.
Friday 4 January 2013
I'm currently trying to read
Spanish dances...
1. In the Absurd centre of the kingdom (it’s capital)... the Madrid Chotis is danced, (might be a derivative of Schottisch, as in a dance craze from Germany in the mid XVIIIth, supposed to be Scottish in origin... but that is highly fanciful... and probably wrong). It is at any rate a very silly dance, and let's Madrileños do what they are best at, stand tall and show off, as if they actually were superior to anyone these days. Scratch that... has Madrid ever been anything?
2. In North East Spain you get the Sardana, which might just make it to most boring dance coupled with most annoying music possible. It is not unknown for groups of old folk to gather on church squares and parks on Sunday to move (ever so slowly) to this little rehab exercise. In the end, it probably is just that, something to keep the oldies exercising. I'd say enjoy, but that is unlikely. Barcelona is about as Catalan as London is Danish, but this dance, oft seen on weekends pretty much sums up the blandness which is the hallmark of that region of Europe.
3. Then there's Aragon, (northern Spain) a land of barren desert, one main river and the "Pair of Knees" mountains. This land has given rise to some of the toughest, most stubborn and short people of the peninsula. Their music is equal to the Sardana for pure jarring high string pulling, but it is coupled with an almost savage, bestial quality from the 'singing'. Now, I say singing in the loosest possible term, as in, "Whitney Houston sings", it's more like screeching. The dancing, whilst energetic seems to be motivated by the scarcity of toilet stops on the Lerida to Saragossa highway.
4. Further afield, Galicia in North West Spain, is home to that most horrible of sounds, the bagpipe. Now, It's OK at funerals, (or battlefields), but most civilised people in Europe chucked the cat-torturing instrument centuries ago, it's that ugly an instrument. Galicians are sullen people; they gave the world Franco, which might explain a lot. The glaring bagpipe, (a cold puff, not the Scottish hot puff type), leads a merry assortment of jumping and skipping rascals. Not quite to the same effect as the Aragonese, but deadly enough.
5. Then there’s… Flamenco… flamenco is a passion of mine; I’m incapable of dancing, so I generally feel pure envy for people who can perform this sensual dance, (together with Tango, possibly the most passionate dancing you will ever see). The music, the singing, the rhythm, all makes it a heavy spectacle. Perhaps because it is so diverse, mixing influences of the moor, gypsy and Spaniard (so often the same thing in the peninsula).
Tango; is from Argentina (Buenos Aires specifically) and has naught to do with Spain, but just for completion, and to support my earlier statement, here is a Tango dance, with Tango music... BUT Flamenco singing. Enjoy.
2. In North East Spain you get the Sardana, which might just make it to most boring dance coupled with most annoying music possible. It is not unknown for groups of old folk to gather on church squares and parks on Sunday to move (ever so slowly) to this little rehab exercise. In the end, it probably is just that, something to keep the oldies exercising. I'd say enjoy, but that is unlikely. Barcelona is about as Catalan as London is Danish, but this dance, oft seen on weekends pretty much sums up the blandness which is the hallmark of that region of Europe.
3. Then there's Aragon, (northern Spain) a land of barren desert, one main river and the "Pair of Knees" mountains. This land has given rise to some of the toughest, most stubborn and short people of the peninsula. Their music is equal to the Sardana for pure jarring high string pulling, but it is coupled with an almost savage, bestial quality from the 'singing'. Now, I say singing in the loosest possible term, as in, "Whitney Houston sings", it's more like screeching. The dancing, whilst energetic seems to be motivated by the scarcity of toilet stops on the Lerida to Saragossa highway.
4. Further afield, Galicia in North West Spain, is home to that most horrible of sounds, the bagpipe. Now, It's OK at funerals, (or battlefields), but most civilised people in Europe chucked the cat-torturing instrument centuries ago, it's that ugly an instrument. Galicians are sullen people; they gave the world Franco, which might explain a lot. The glaring bagpipe, (a cold puff, not the Scottish hot puff type), leads a merry assortment of jumping and skipping rascals. Not quite to the same effect as the Aragonese, but deadly enough.
5. Then there’s… Flamenco… flamenco is a passion of mine; I’m incapable of dancing, so I generally feel pure envy for people who can perform this sensual dance, (together with Tango, possibly the most passionate dancing you will ever see). The music, the singing, the rhythm, all makes it a heavy spectacle. Perhaps because it is so diverse, mixing influences of the moor, gypsy and Spaniard (so often the same thing in the peninsula).
Tango; is from Argentina (Buenos Aires specifically) and has naught to do with Spain, but just for completion, and to support my earlier statement, here is a Tango dance, with Tango music... BUT Flamenco singing. Enjoy.
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